Have three kids, get a land as gift, Italian govt tells citizens

Italy’s populist government plans to reward parents who have a third child by awarding them a piece of land, in a bid to reverse the country’s plummeting birth rate, media reported Wednesday.

The plan, cooked up by the far-right League and included in the draft budget for next year, would see the state concede parcels of agricultural land for 20 years to parents who have a third child between 2019 and 2021.

“They say that Italians have few children and that something is needed to turn the trend around,” said Agriculture Minister Gian Marco Centinaio.

“That’s why the ministry wants to contribute, favouring rural areas in particular, where people still have children,” he told the media.